Early Modern States of Eastern Europe: Map & History

The Crimean Khanate originated in the early 15th century when certain clans of the Golden Horde ceased their nomadic life in the Desht-i Kipchak (Kypchak Steppes of today's Ukraine and southern Russia) and decided to make Crimea their yurt (homeland). At that time, the Golden Horde of the Mongol Empire had governed the Crimean peninsula as an ulus since 1239, with its capital at Qirim (Staryi Krym). The local separatists invited a Genghisid contender for the Golden Horde throne, Hacı Giray, to become their khan. Hacı Giray accepted their invitation and travelled from exile in Lithuania. He warred for independence against the Horde from 1420 to 1441, in the end achieving success. But Hacı Giray then had to fight off internal rivals before he could ascend the throne of the khanate in 1449, after which he moved its capital to Qırq Yer (today part of Bahçeseray).

From Wikipedia: Crimean Khanate · History: Establishment (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The peninsula itself was divided by the khan's family and several beys. An estate controlled by a bey was called a beylik. Beys in the khanate were as important as the Polish Magnats. Directly to the khan belonged Cufut-Qale, Bakhchisaray, and Staryi Krym (Eski Qirim). The khan also possessed all the salt lakes and the villages around them, as well as the woods around the rivers Alma, Kacha, and Salgir. Part of his own estate included the wastelands with their newly created settlements.

From Wikipedia: Crimean Khanate · Regions and administration (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The nomadic part of the Crimean Tatars and all the Nogays were cattle breeders. Crimea had important trading ports where the goods arrived via the Silk Road were exported to the Ottoman Empire and Europe. Crimean Khanate had many large cities such as the capital Bahçeseray, Kezlev (Yevpatoria), Qarasu Bazar (Market on black water) and Aqmescit (White-mosque) having numerous hans (caravansarais and merchant quarters), tanners, and mills. Many monuments constructed under the Crimean Khanate were destroyed or left in ruins after the Russian invasion. Mosques, in particular were demolished or remade into Orthodox churches. The settled Crimean Tatars were engaged in trade, agriculture, and artisanry. Crimea was a center of wine, tobacco, and fruit cultivation.

From Wikipedia: Crimean Khanate · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Crimeans had a complex relationship with Zaporozhian Cossacks who lived to the north of the khanate in modern Ukraine. The Cossacks provided a measure of protection against Tatar raids for Poland–Lithuania and received subsidies for their service. They also raided Crimean and Ottoman possessions in the region. At times Crimean Khanate made alliances with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Zaporizhian Sich. The assistance of İslâm III Giray during the Khmelnytsky Uprising in 1648 contributed greatly to the initial momentum of military successes for the Cossacks. The relationship with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was also exclusive, as it was the home dynasty of the Girays, who sought sanctuary in Lithuania in the 15th century before establishing themselves on the Crimean Peninsula.

From Wikipedia: Crimean Khanate · History: Alliances and conflicts with Poland and Zaporozhian Cossacks (CC BY-SA 4.0)

One of the notable constructors of Crimean art and architecture was Qırım Giray, who in 1764 commissioned the fountain master Omer the Persian to construct the Bakhchisaray Fountain. The Bakhchisaray Fountain or Fountain of Tears is a real case of life imitating art. The fountain is known as the embodiment of love of one of the last Crimean Khans, Khan Qırım Giray for his young wife, and his grief after her early death. The Khan was said to have fallen in love with a Polish girl in his harem. Despite his battle-hardened harshness, he was grievous and wept when she died, astonishing all those who knew him. He commissioned a marble fountain to be made, so that the rock would weep, like him, forever.

From Wikipedia: Crimean Khanate · Crimean art and architecture: Bakhchisaray Fountain (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Turkish traveler writer Evliya Çelebi mentions the impact of Cossack raids from Azak upon the territories of the Crimean Khanate. These raids ruined trade routes and severely depopulated many important regions. By the time Evliya Çelebi had arrived almost all the towns he visited were affected by the Cossack raids. In fact, the only place Evliya Çelebi considered safe from the Cossacks was the Ottoman fortress at Arabat.

From Wikipedia: Crimean Khanate · History: Decline (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The rule of Piasts, the earlier Polish ruling house (c. 962–1370) had ended with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Gediminids, the immediate predecessors of the first Jagiellonian, were rulers of medieval Lithuania with the title of Grand Duke. Their realm, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was chiefly inhabited by Lithuanians and Ruthenians.

From Wikipedia: Jagiellonian dynasty · Pre-dynasty background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The influence of the Jagiellonian dynasty in Central Europe had been on the rise. In 1471 Casimir's son Vladislaus II became a king of Bohemia, and in 1490 also of Hungary. The southern and eastern outskirts of Poland and Lithuania became threatened by Turkish invasions beginning in the late 15th century. Moldavia's involvement with Poland goes back to 1387, when Peter I, Hospodar of Moldavia, seeking protection against the Hungarians, paid Jagiełło homage in Lviv, which gave Poland access to the Black Sea ports. In 1485 King Casimir undertook an expedition into Moldavia, after its seaports were overtaken by the Ottoman Turks. The Turkish controlled Crimean Tatars raided the eastern territories in 1482 and 1487, until they were confronted by King John Albert, Casimir's son and successor. Poland was attacked in 1487–1491 by remnants of the Golden Horde.

From Wikipedia: Jagiellonian dynasty · Kingdom of Poland: Turkish and Tatar wars (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Polish "Golden Age", the period of the reigns of Sigismund I and Sigismund II, the last two Jagiellonian kings, or more generally the 16th century, is most often identified with the rise of the culture of Polish Renaissance. The cultural flowering had its material base in the prosperity of the elites, both the landed nobility and urban patriciate at such centers as Kraków and Gdańsk. As was the case with other European nations, the Renaissance inspiration came in the first place from Italy, a process accelerated to some degree by the marriage of Sigismund I to Bona Sforza. Many Poles traveled to Italy to study and to learn its culture. As imitating Italian ways became very trendy (the royal courts of the two kings provided the leadership and example for everybody else), many Italian artists and thinkers were coming to Poland, some settling and working there for many years.

From Wikipedia: Jagiellonian dynasty · Kingdom of Poland: Golden Age of Polish culture (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The original populations were the Volga Finnic tribes of the Meshchyora, Muroma and Mordvins. The lands were originally under the influence of Kievan Rus' and Volga Bulgaria. Local tribes were tributaries of Russian princes. Later, the area was incorporated into Vladimir-Suzdal. In 1152, Grand Prince Yuri Dolgoruky founded Gorodets-Meshchyorskiy. After the Mongol invasions, the territory was incorporated into the territory of the Golden Horde. Turkic settlers appeared in those areas, and most of them accepted Islam under the influence from the Volga Bulgars.

From Wikipedia: Qasim Khanate · History: Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The land was inhabited mainly by Mordvins, some of them as well as other Volga Finnic peoples like the Meshchyora and Muroma have been assimilated by Tatars and became Mishar Tatars. Later, the land was settled by the Russians. Some Kazan Tatars resettled to Qasim lands, and were called Qasim Tatars. Most of the Qasim Tatars served at the khan's palace or served in the khan's military. This group had been assimilated into the Mishar Tatars, but nearly 1,000 Qasim Tatars are still living in the city of Kasimov.

From Wikipedia: Qasim Khanate · Population (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Initially a part of the Principality of Chernigov, Murom-Ryazan became a separate principality under the reign of Yaroslav Sviatoslavich after he was ousted from Chernigov by Vsevolod Olgovich, which remained in possession of his descendants after he died in 1129.

From Wikipedia: Principality of Ryazan · History: Early history (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Most of the population of the Astrakhan khanate were Astrakhan Tatars and Nogais. Merchants carried on a transit trade between Muscovy, Kazan, Crimea, Central Asia, and the Transcaucasus region.

From Wikipedia: Astrakhan Khanate · Demography and society (CC BY-SA 4.0)

As Protestantism spread among the laity of the Teutonic Monastic State of Prussia, dissent began to develop against the Roman Catholic rule of the Teutonic Knights, whose Grand Master, Albert, Duke of Prussia, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern, lacked the military resources to assert the order's authority.

From Wikipedia: Duchy of Prussia · History: Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The exact origins of Cossacks remain unclear. In the modern view, Don Cossacks descend from Slavic people connected with Russian lands like the Povolzhye, the Novgorod Republic, and the Principality of Ryazan, and Ukrainian lands like the Dnieper. As well as nomadic Turkic tribes inhabiting the Steppes. Gotho-Alans could also have played a role in forming Don Cossack culture, which originated in the western part of the North Caucasus.

From Wikipedia: Don Cossacks · Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Most Don Cossacks are Russian Orthodox, who consider themselves guardians of the faith. However, a large percentage of Don Cossacks were Starovers. Even in 1903, a minimum of 150,000 from a total of the 2,500,000 parish members of the Don Eparchy were Starovers. Ataman count Matvei Platov was of a Popovtsy Old Believers Family. Don Cossacks were tolerant of other religions.

From Wikipedia: Don Cossacks · Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In April 1936, the earlier ban on Cossacks serving in the Red Army was lifted. Later in 1936, two existing Red Army cavalry divisions were re-designated as Don Cossacks. In 1939, a number of these regiments were issued with traditional Cossack uniforms, in ceremonial and field service versions. The dress of the Don Cossack units included dark-blue breeches with broad red stripes which had distinguished them prior to the Revolution.

From Wikipedia: Don Cossacks · History: Don Cossacks in World War II (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff was a group of former officers of the Russian Imperial Army who were discovered singing in Çilingir (near Constantinople), where they had fled after the defeat of their army in the Crimea. They made their formal concert debut in Vienna in 1923, led by their founder, conductor and composer, Serge Jaroff.

From Wikipedia: Don Cossacks · Traditions and culture: Don Cossack Choir Serge Jaroff (CC BY-SA 4.0)

John Sobieski's death in 1696 arguably ended the period of national sovereignty, and Poland's relative authority over the region dwindled swiftly. By the 18th century, destabilization of its political system brought the Commonwealth to the brink of civil war and the state became increasingly susceptible to foreign influence. The remaining European powers perpetually meddled in the country's affairs. Upon the death of a king, several royal houses actively intruded in the hope of securing votes for their desired candidates. The practice was common and apparent, and the selection was often the result of hefty bribes directed at corrupt nobles. Louis XIV of France heavily invested in François Louis, Prince of Conti, in opposition to James Louis Sobieski, Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria and Frederick Augustus of Saxony.

From Wikipedia: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth · History: Political turmoil and the enlightenment (1697–1771) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The economy of the Commonwealth was predominantly based on agricultural output and trade, though there was an abundance of artisan workshops and manufactories – notably paper mills, leather tanneries, ironworks, glassworks and brickyards. Some major cities were home to craftsmen, jewellers and clockmakers. The majority of industries and trades were concentrated in the Kingdom of Poland; the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was more rural and its economy was driven by farming and clothmaking. Mining developed in the south-west region of Poland which was rich in natural resources such as lead, coal, copper and salt. The currency used in Poland–Lithuania was the złoty (meaning "the golden") and its subunit, the grosz. Foreign coins in the form of ducats, thalers and shillings were widely accepted and exchanged. The city of Gdańsk had the privilege of minting its own coinage.

From Wikipedia: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth · Economy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The military in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth evolved from the merger of the armies from the Polish Kingdom and from the Grand Lithuanian Duchy, though each state maintained its own division. The united armed forces comprised the Crown Army (armia koronna), recruited in Poland, and the Lithuanian Army (armia litewska) in the Grand Duchy. The military was headed by the Hetman, a rank equivalent to that of a general or supreme commander in other countries. Monarchs could not declare war or summon an army without the consent of the Sejm parliament or the Senate. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Navy never played a major role in the military structure from the mid-17th century onwards.

From Wikipedia: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth · Military (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Warsaw Confederation signed on 28 January 1573 secured the rights of minorities and religions; it allowed all persons to practice any faith freely, though religious tolerance varied at times. As outlined by Norman Davies, "the wording and substance of the declaration of the Confederation of Warsaw of were extraordinary with regards to prevailing conditions elsewhere in Europe; and they governed the principles of religious life in the Republic for over two hundred years." Subsequently, the Catholic church initiated a Counter-Reformation in Poland, relying heavily on methods of persuasion and legal means. As a result, compared to many other European countries, the conflict between the Catholics and the Protestants in Poland was relatively peaceful.

From Wikipedia: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth · Culture: Religion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Duchy of Warsaw, established in 1807 by Napoleon Bonaparte, traced its origins to the Commonwealth. Other revival movements appeared during the November Uprising (1830–31), the January Uprising (1863–64) and in the 1920s, with Józef Piłsudski's failed attempt to create a Polish-led Intermarium (Międzymorze) federation that, at its largest extent, would span from Finland in the north to the Balkans in the south.

From Wikipedia: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The steppe borderland between Poland–Lithuania, Muscovy, various Tatar states (under influence from the Ottomans), and the Black Sea was mostly under control of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, at least since the fall of Kievan Rus'. However, control over such a huge area was never direct and far from complete. The vast, scarcely populated areas of what is now Ukraine (the name itself could be translated as Borderlands) had been attracting all sorts of people, from adventurers to brigands, foreign merchants, landless gentry, and runaway serfs. Over time a certain common identity started to form among them, giving birth to the Cossacks.

From Wikipedia: Nalyvaiko Uprising · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

It is not clear when the first Cossack communities on the Lower Dnieper began to form. There are signs and stories of similar people living in the Eurasian Steppe as early as the 12th century. At that time they were not called Cossacks, since cossack is a word that also in Turkic language means a "free man" which shares its etymology with the ethnonym "Kazakh". It later became a Ruthenian (Middle Ukrainian) and Muscovite (Middle Russian) word for "freebooter." The steppes to the north of the Black Sea were inhabited by nomadic tribes such as the Cumans, Pechenegs and Khazars. The role of these tribes in the ethnogenesis of the Cossacks is disputed, although later Cossack sources claimed a Slavicised Khazar ancestry.

From Wikipedia: Zaporozhian Cossacks · Origins (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The most important items of the host were the Cossack Kleinody (always in plural; related to Imperial Regalia) that consisted of valuable military distinctions, regalia, and attributes of the Ukrainian Cossacks and were used until the 19th century. Kleinody were awarded to Zaporozhian Cossacks by the Polish king Stephen Báthory on 20 August 1576 to Bohdan Ruzhynsky, among which were khoruhva, bunchuk, bulawa "mace" and a seal with a coat of arms on which was depicted a cossack with a samopal "rifle". The kleinody were assigned to hetman's assistants for safekeeping, thus there have appeared such ranks as chorąży ("flag-bearer"), bunchuzhny ("staff-keeper"), etc. Later part of Cossack kleinody became pernaches, timpani (lytavry), kurin banners (badges), batons, and others.

From Wikipedia: Zaporozhian Cossacks · Organization: Cossack Regalia (Kleinody) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

With this we would like to let our Empire and our faithful subjects be known that the Zaporozhian Sich is now destroyed and the name of Zaporozhian Cossacks is to be no more as well, mentioning of whom will be considered no less as an affront to our Imperial Majesty for their deeds and insolence for disobeying the will of our Imperial Majesty.

From Wikipedia: Zaporozhian Cossacks · The end of the Zaporozhian Host (1775) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Although in 1775 the Zaporozhian Host formally ceased to exist, it left a profound cultural, political and military legacy on Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Turkey and other states that came in contact with it. The shifting alliances of the Cossacks have generated controversy, especially during the 20th century. For Russians, the Treaty of Pereyaslav gave the Tsardom of Russia and later Russian Empire the impulse to take over the Ruthenian lands, claim rights as the sole successor of the Kievan Rus', and for the Russian Tsar to be declared the protector of all Russias, culminating in the Pan-Slavism movement of the 19th century.

From Wikipedia: Zaporozhian Cossacks · Legacy (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During World War II, Polish prisoners-of-war was held in a Soviet POW camp in Starobilsk, and then some 3,900 were mass murdered by the NKVD in Kharkiv and secretly buried in Piatykhatky in 1940 (Katyn massacre). From 1941/1942 to 1943, the region was occupied by Germany. At Drobytsky Yar, German occupiers mass murdered an estimated 16,000 to 30,000 people, mostly Jews. In January 1944, the 1st Reserve Infantry Regiment of the 1st Corps of the Polish Armed Forces was stationed in Sumy, and soon the Main Formation Staff of the First Polish Army was established in Sumy. In 1944, about 30,000 Polish soldiers were stationed and underwent military training in Sumy before rejoining the fight against Germany.

From Wikipedia: Sloboda Ukraine · History: World War II (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Augustus the Strong had won the Polish crown by military force after a violent election. Among his opponents were the primates of Poland, most notably cardinal Michał Stefan Radziejowski, archbishop of Gniezno, as well as the powerful Sapieha family. Although these factions had promised not to work against Augustus, the agreement was very unstable. To increase his own authority and put down any rebellious elements within his country, the elected monarch considered an invasion of Swedish Livonia to be the best choice: not only would this restore a part of Poland's former territorial conquests, but it would also put down the Swedish Empire's ability to interfere with Polish affairs. With promised support from tsar Peter in Russia, and Sweden's ongoing conflict with Denmark-Norway in the west, the Polish monarch believed it was going to be an easy victory.

From Wikipedia: Swedish invasion of Poland (1701–1706) · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

When the fighting between Sweden and Poland had ceased the task remained for Charles XII to secure the new order against coup attempts from the Saxons and Augustus' ally tsar Peter. Throughout the time of the war Peter had been desperately trying to modernize his outdated army after the defeat at Narva, even though the Russian military was adequate to operate against poorly defended cities throughout the Swedish Baltic provinces. After Wolmar von Schlippenbach's failures in the battles of Erastfer and Hummelshof, the Russians had conquered Nöteborg and Nyenskans, as well as beginning the construction of Petersburg, which would become their first naval base in the Baltic sea. Throughout 1704 Dorpat and Narva had also been lost.

From Wikipedia: Swedish invasion of Poland (1701–1706) · War in Saxony (CC BY-SA 4.0)